I've set up two Teams now for the Sri Lanka project and the Switchitoff.org project. This should allow for some more focussed work and production conversations instead of always doing this on the main Message Boards, which I hope will become more of a general discussion and ideas area.

Let's get things going again in terms of projects and not let the OCN become a great idea that didn't have any support. We really need you, the OCN community, to get involved. Even being part of the discussion helps.

I have taken the liberty of adding OCN members to the relevant teams based on your contribution in the Message Board threads. If I have missed out anyone who would like to be part of a team, or be removed from a team, please let me know. You can find my e-mail address from my Profile (look in the Contributors list or here).

Please go and explore the Teams area. You can access them from the Teams button in the main navigation and things should be fairly self-explanatory. I posted an introductory Team Notice in each team which will tell you about the various areas and features. Don't forget to subscribe to any of the Team Notices or Discussion Threads via e-mail or RSS - it really helps in keeping the communication going.

Lastly, if you've got an idea for a project and want a team set up, let us know. At the moment we're creating them, but at some point might make this a more open process so people can create their own.

It's been a mammoth three months and we've written tens of thousands of words in messages as well as producing some great graphic work, but finally the Creative Waves Visualising Issues in Pharamcy project has come to an end.

Why do I write about it here on the OCN? Because the OCN grew out of the desire to continue the work and community of the previous Creative Waves project back in 2005. From the VIP project we have learned a lot about how these project might work better and the difficulties they face sometimes. One key lesson is that each project needs to have a smaller, more focussed team with someone driving it. Now that Rick and I have our time freed up a little (very little!) more, we will implement teams within the OCN for separate projects. If any of you would like to set up a team for a project, let us know.

In the meantime, please check out the Galleries in the VIP project - you can log-in as a Visitor and take a look.

The other reason for writing about it here is that we hope to see some of the VIP participants in the OCN - several have already joined - and we look forward to working with them again!

UPDATED OMNIUM INTERFACE RUNNING ON THE OCN
As I mentioned in the last news item, the Omnium technical team have been working behind the scenes completely re-building the Omnium interface from the ground up in order to release it as an open-source project. We've been putting it through it's paces on the Creative Waves VIP project and have now updated the OCN with the same version.

NEW FEATURES
So, apart from you finding a few visual tweaks here and there, we also have some major new features:

1. RSS feeds for all Message Board threads - (I can't tell you how happy I am about that)
2. Improved Portfolio and Gallery interface - you should notice some new icons and abilities in your portfolios
3. Teams - we haven't put them live yet, but they're coming soon. This means we'll be able to group into smaller, more manageable teams for projects and hopefully this will help give some direction. If you'd like a team created for a project idea, let us know.
4. Improved Message Boards. In addition to the RSS feeds, we also have how many unread posts there are since your last visit and the ability to structure the message boards in more useful ways and groups. You can also collapse and expand batches of threads via the arrow icons.
5. A whole load of other features that you'll see as you take a look around.

Don't forget, as before, you can also subscribe to any News alerts (like this one) or any Message Board thread via e-mail as well as RSS.

Please check if you are subscribed to the News alerts by looking at the link to the top right of this message when you are in the OCN interface. It should say "Unsubscribe to News Alerts" (which means you are currently subscribed.

POTENTIAL LOG-IN PROBLEMS DUE TO UPGRADE
We had a brief problem when we upgraded which caused anyone logging in to have to reset their password (via the 'Forgotten your password?' link on the log-in page).

We think it has been resolved and all the old passwords should now work, but anyone who reset their password during this period might have to reset it again. You'll know, of course, if your usual log-in doesn't work. Just click on the 'Forgotten your password?' link and a new one and confirmation e-mail will be sent to you automatically.

Just in case there are any problems, we'll mail this out on the Listserv list as well.

See you online,

Andy & Rick

Hi all - I know its been quiet here. The Creative Waves Visualising Issues in Pharmacy project has simply absorbed all our time. But the good news is that it has also been a test bed for the new version of the Omnium software (which, incidentally, is now open source).

The whole of the OCN is being moved to new servers and the codebase being completely updated, so there might be some downtime - but if you are reading this then it's likely that everything is okay.

The new interface contains lots of really useful features, which I hope will get things swinging again on here. Once it is installed we'll tell you all about them (and RSS feeds are among them at last!).

Hi all OCNers,

Rick and I have been putting most of our time into things behind the scenes with the Omnium Interface and also with preparing and running the Creative Waves VIP project. The VIP project is almost halfway through and it looks like we'll have some good results in helping the community of Winam, Kenya. Even if it is just in a small way it will be worthwhile.

NEWS ROUND-UP
Over the last couple of weeks there has been a wealth of news that I've gathered and posted in the latest news roundup thread so that people can comment (which they can't on the news announcements). Here's a rundown of the news items:

- Only 10% of $50bn aid pledged by G8 has materialised.
- Worldchanging Voices: John Thackara on groups and change; William McDonough on Cradle to Cradle
- Hydrogen Fuel Cell aircraft's first flight.
- Allan Chochinov Manifesto for Sustainability in Design
- Consumer Items are Made to Break
- Graphic Designers Unite to address Climate Change
- Sappi offer $1m pot for "ideas that matter"
- UK Homes to get free energy meters

FUTURE OF THE OCN
We're both wanting to give the OCN a shake-up too. We know it's been pretty inactive recently and we have some ideas why and will make some changes to the interface to try and help people create their own projects more easily.

But we also may take a look at the membership and re-think it too and we really want to hear from you about this. Again, I'd point you to the Engaging across the membership thread.

(Image: Jenipher's house - a 70 year-old woman from Winam, Kenya returned to this after leaving hospital.)